Re-Humanising Shakespeare: Literary Humanism, Wisdom and Modernity

Re-Humanising Shakespeare: Literary Humanism, Wisdom and Modernity

Synopsis

Can Shakespeare help us with the question of how to live? Re-Humanising Shakespeare argues that although Shakespeare himself contributed to the uncertainties of modern living, his work can still serve as a source of existential wisdom and guidance. The book examines through a wide range of Shakespeare's plays the conditions under which human beings flourish or perish. Love, ethics, emotion, vulnerability and humility are amongst the topics discussed as part of the book's argument that Shakespeare is continually at pains to reclaim the human from its complete liquefaction. Given the range and originality of its approach, Re-Humanising Shakespeare will make provocative reading for all those interested in Shakespeare, ethics and questions of literary value. Key Features • Offers new ways of understanding the relevance of humanism to literature and ideas of literary value • Shows through detailed readings of a wide range of plays how Shakespeare reclaims the human • Provides a clear account of modernity which illuminates the relationship between 'Theory', scepticism and literary humanism